The Adventure Brew Hostel

Definitely a quiet level down or two from Loki, and a lot older crowd here as well.

I stayed at The Adventure Brew for two nights in May 2010, and it was great fun. This is a microbrewery hostels, and they serve Saya Beer, which is just delicious. Two pints were 20 Bs when I stayed there, which was awesome. And you could buy 2 double vodka cokes for 22 Bs. Needless to say, that night was good fun. For supper I got Chicken Fajitas which was a monterous helping for 35Bs.

But enough about the awesome bar and delicious food and onto the hostel. The beds were alright, normal, 8 person dorm I´d say, although, the crowd goes to bed ealier here than at Loki and if you´re up for an all night party, probably best to avoid this place unless you have no problem making the party yourself.

The price was average, paid 60 Bs each night and got an all you can eat pancake breakfast which was just so damn tasty.

The place is a little way away from the Prado, and we took taxis to get everywhere when we went out at night, although it is on Montes, which is what turns into the Prado, eventually.

The staff were great and so were the people. I would definitely recommend this if you are into good times and good beer.

I would actually give this place 3.5 stars - somewhere between good and exceptional (more like "great"). If they could computerise their booking system and hire more competent, English-speaking staff, it would be probably solve all their problems. Okay, so what makes this place great?

1. super comfy beds with thick blankets to keep you warm during those cold La Paz nights; 2. relatively reliably hot showers, ie. pretty good by Bolivian hostel standards; 3. free all-you-can eat pancakes, and they're actually pretty good. It sure beats bread and jam; 4. free beer each night you stay (only while the hostel is still under renovation, but not a bad extra); 5. nice bar upstairs with a 2-hour happy hour and super cheap drinks. They brew their own beer (Saya beer) under the hostel, and the ale is pretty good. They also have regular barbecues at the bar, so for 25Bs you can have a burger, chorizo, veg salad and potato salad; 6. you can use their kitchen most of the day and there's more than 1 DVD player and TV for all those lazy travellers.

What they really need to improve is their booking system, to avoid having to shift people from room to room during their stay. I've slept in 6 different rooms in my 8 nights there... not cool. Also, while some of the front desk people are lovely, they're just altogether incompetent. When I can add up quicker and more accurately than the front desk guy, in my tired, backpacker, haven't-done-maths-since-first-grade-uni state, that's a bad thing. He tried to make me pay two Bs extra the first time and refused to listen to my working out until the English-speaking rep came down to help (and I was speaking in decent Spanish); then the second time, he couldn't figure out how much I had to pay as I had made two separate bookings online and had already paid a 10% deposit on both. (It's not very hard!). So, be warned. Also, the hostel is a little way out of the way, on a main road so traffic can be loud, but close to thebus station for convenience.

Recommended for gringos and anyone wishing to meet gringos.